1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to fuel cells, and, more particularly, to exhaust systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electrochemical fuel cells convert reactants, namely fuel and oxidant fluid streams, to generate electric power and reaction products. Electrochemical fuel cells generally employ an electrolyte disposed between two electrodes, namely a cathode and an anode. An electrocatalyst, disposed at the interfaces between the electrolyte and the electrodes, typically induces the desired electrochemical reactions at the electrodes. The location of the electrocatalyst generally defines the electrochemically active area.
One type of electrochemical fuel cell is the polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell. PEM fuel cells generally employ a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) comprising a solid polymer electrolyte or ion-exchange membrane disposed between two electrodes. Each electrode typically comprises a porous, electrically conductive substrate, such as carbon fiber paper or carbon cloth, which provides structural support to the membrane and serves as a fluid diffusion layer. The membrane is ion conductive (typically proton conductive), and acts both as a barrier for isolating the reactant streams from each other and as an electrical insulator between the two electrodes. A typical commercial PEM is a sulfonated perfluorocarbon membrane sold by E.I. Du Pont de Nemours and Company under the trade designation NAFION®. The electrocatalyst is typically a precious metal composition (e.g., platinum metal black or an alloy thereof) and may be provided on a suitable support (e.g., fine platinum particles supported on a carbon black support).
In a fuel cell, an MEA is typically interposed between two separator plates that are substantially impermeable to the reactant fluid streams. The plates typically act as current collectors and provide support for the MEA. In addition, the plates may have reactant channels formed therein and act as flow field plates providing access for the reactant fluid streams to the respective porous electrodes and providing for the removal of reaction products formed during operation of the fuel cell.
In a fuel cell stack, a plurality of fuel cells are connected together, typically in series, to increase the overall output power of the assembly. In such an arrangement, one side of a given separator plate may serve as an anode flow field plate for one cell and the other side of the plate may serve as the cathode flow field plate for the adjacent cell. In this arrangement, the plates may be referred to as bipolar plates. Typically, a plurality of inlet ports, supply manifolds, exhaust manifolds and outlet ports are utilized to direct the reactant fluid to the reactant channels in the flow field plates. The supply and exhaust manifolds may be internal manifolds, which extend through aligned openings formed in the flow field plates and MEAs, or may comprise external or edge manifolds, attached to the edges of the flow field plates.
A broad range of reactants can be used in PEM fuel cells. For example, the fuel stream may be substantially pure hydrogen gas, a gaseous hydrogen-containing reformate stream, or methanol (in a direct methanol fuel cell). The oxidant may be, for example, substantially pure oxygen or a dilute oxygen stream such as air.
During normal operation of a PEM fuel cell, fuel is electrochemically oxidized on the anode side, typically resulting in the generation of protons, electrons and possibly other species depending on the fuel employed. The protons are conducted from the reaction sites at which they are generated, through the membrane, to electrochemically react with the oxidant on the cathode side. The electrons travel through an external circuit providing useable power and then react with the protons and oxidant on the cathode side to generate water reaction product.
The unused reactants are expelled out of the stack into the atmosphere via an exhaust system including a fuel exhaust pipe and an oxidant exhaust pipe. During fuel cell operation, especially during start-up, shut-down or restart, hydrogen may diffuse to the cathode side and consequently a mix of hydrogen and air will be present in the air exhaust pipe, sometimes with concentrations as high as 50/50 hydrogen/air, posing a significant flammability/detonability concern.
There have been attempts to reduce the hydrogen concentration in the air exhaust pipe by dilution through adding more air, or by stack voltage bleeddown to actively consume the hydrogen remaining in the anode loop.
Accordingly, although there have been advances in the field, there remains a need in the art for improving fuel cell exhaust systems. The present invention addresses these needs and provides further related advantages.